


Lost In Limbo

by dreamcatcher (darcangell23)



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Hanging in the balance, M/M, Near Death Experience, Slight Graphic Description
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 03:36:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/844838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darcangell23/pseuds/dreamcatcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt wakes up in the darkness with no semblance of where he is or who he is. Can he put the pieces of the puzzle together and fight his way back to the ones he loves? Or will he be lost forever? One-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost In Limbo

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually the very first Glee fic I ever wrote. I've never really liked angst much because it's so sad so if I write it, you can guarantee a happy ending. This is an established relationship fic but doesn't focus on the relationship. The majority of the focus is from Kurt's POV. You'll understand as you read it. It is a one-shot and I've rated it mature for description of a freak accident and the presence of blood and talk of a near death experience. Most of this story is angsty and sad and at one point, Burt may seem a bit out of character. I apologize. As I said, this is the first Glee fic I ever wrote and I probably wrote it before I knew Glee as well as I do now. I didn't really become a Gleek until the third premiered on TV. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Comments make me smile! Happy reading!

_Where am I?_  The first question burned brightly suddenly in the boy's head. The boy whose features would have made for a good Pinocchio, as so many people might have thought. But he stared at his surroundings, which started as nothing more than what looked like pitch dark blackness. It was as though he was standing in the middle of nothing. All he could make out was black. The weirdest part was he could make out the sounds of distant voices. They sounded far away but being a performer, the boy had a sharp ear and he could oddly pick up what they were saying.

"I don't know when he will wake up Mr. and Mrs. Hummel," a voice was saying. The boy turned his head up to the sky as though his instincts were telling him the voice spoke from above him. Didn't know when who would wake up? And why did those names sound so familiar? Tuning out on the above conversation the boy looked down at himself.

Pale hands stuck out in front of him, ghostly white in the pitch dark. He pressed them to his chest, neatly clothed in a fitted shirt and a vest with a tie around his neck. Fashionable skinny jeans enclosed the boy's legs. He seemed to be in shape. A hand went up to his hair and he could feel the neatness of a comb over. There seemed to be nothing wrong with him. Though he could not exactly figure out who he was at that very moment, a gut feeling told him that he was himself as was normal for who he was. So what were they talking about? And the inkling that he got now was that someone was in a hospital. He wanted to ask the person, a man he was sure was a doctor who he was talking about. He tried to open his mouth and found that he couldn't. Or he could but no sound came out.

Perplexed with his rather odd situation, the boy began to walk. The darkness was shifting and it was now dissolving into what appeared to be a quiet deserted street under the full glow of the moon. The voices were not letting up. They were louder now, though the boy still thought that he was far from conversing with them. Actually, he was quite certain that his journey had just begun. And then he got an angsty shout of a voice and stopped in his walk.

"What do you mean if? Kurt will wake up! My son is strong! Don't you go telling me that there's even a chance that he may never wake!"

The boy raised his eyes once more to the sky. Someone named Kurt was apparently the one who would not wake and may not wake at all. Mr. Hummel must have been the one speaking. He was this Kurt's father. But who was this Kurt? And the boy wondered why it was he was hearing all these things. Perplexed more so, he continued his walk down this street. A bright light burned far at the other end and it was captivating him. He wanted to know what it was.

There was a sudden tingling sensation in his right hand and the boy stopped again, lifting it to peer down at the pale white skin of the palm and fingers. He turned it over, but saw nothing that could have been causing the tingling. His hand did feel sort of heavy now, as though there was an added weight. The pressure felt as though an invisible someone had wrapped their own fingers around his. Just then, a new voice broke the air, one that like that of the father, the boy found sounded familiar.

"Kurt…" it spoke. It was younger, obviously someone who was not an adult. It was a boy, like the boy himself. The feeling that he knew this person grew stronger. "Hey, it's Finn, your brother." The boy was this Kurt's brother. The boy in darkness veered off the street, though that light was still so intriguingly inviting, and walked onto the sidewalk, heading up the deserted walk of one of the houses. He turned and sat on the steps, feeling suddenly that he'd rather stay here a while. The temptation of that bright light was waning and he noticed out of the corner of his eye, the light was doing the same. It was barely visible now. "Listen to me buddy, you have to wake up. Your dad's a mess. My mom is too. You really have become like a son to her you know." Finn's voice was cracking. He was crying.

A new revelation hit the boy. A doctor, a hospital, angry parents and siblings. This Kurt guy, he was in a coma. He had to be. But the question was why? And why was this all being told to him? The boy looked down upon himself, the one flash of color in this dark world, on this dark street. There were no streetlights. And then, a new flash of color made itself known. Something was glimmering in the street.

The boy stood, tuning out the voices again, walking slowly away from the step. One foot in front of the other as he moved closer to the street. He reached the curb and only then was he able to make out the glimmering. It was red, a thick red liquid. One word reverberated in the boy's head.  _Blood_. It was blood. But whose blood? Was it Kurt's blood? And how did it get there? This odd world was growing stranger by the second. Or was it minute? How much time had passed since he had woken here? Was there a perception of time in this place? The boy blinked. In that one blink the blood had changed. It was still there but there was now a form, a body lying within it.

The boy was not sure he wanted to see the body. But a burning in his gut told him whether he wanted to or not, he was meant to. Slowly, he raised one foot and stepped off the curb back into the street. The voices were crashing in around his ears. It seemed that time had passed. How much? He didn't know but he did know that this was a different day to the world of voices. He could tell that much. A lump formed in the boy's throat as he slowly crept closer to the body lying in that blood. This was terrifying. He could feel the beads of fear sweat written all over his face.

It seemed to take both no time at all and an eternity to reach the body in the blood. The boy's fear only grew as his eyes fell on the form. It was him. It was he lying in that blood. But how could that be? Was he not standing there staring down at himself? Was he not okay?

A new voice entered the vicinity and it was with this voice that a wave of memories seemed to crash into the boy and he shivered, hugging himself tightly. "Kurt," the voice said and it was again, another boy. He sounded distraught, as though he had been crying non-stop for a good long time. That weird tingling and added pressure was back on his right hand again. This boy, the boy realized had to be holding Kurt's hand. But for a moment, the haziness of not knowing who he was, was wondering why he was feeling it and not Kurt. And that was when he realized the memories creeping back into his mind. He was Kurt. The body in the blood was Kurt. The image was a realistic transparency of the accident. The accident in which Kurt had been innocently hit by a speeding car. And that was when he realized who the boy talking was.

Blaine.

Massive sobbing met his ears, growing very distinct now that memories had flooded back into his being and the Kurt in the dark world looked up at the sky. He found his voice at last. "Blaine!" he screamed as loud as he could. But the love of his life could not hear him. Alas, Kurt realized he was screaming in his mind. He was not speaking in the world of the living. He was not conscious. He was in a coma. He tried to pull himself together. He could tell that something was drawing him back, that he was getting stronger with each passing moment. But he still could not wake. He couldn't bring himself to reenter the world of the living. Why? Why wasn't he waking? Why couldn't he be with Blaine?

The realizations caused the Kurt in the dark to break down. He collapsed to his knees on that dark street, eerily close to that red of blood. It seeped into the knees of his skinny jeans. But he didn't care. He fisted his hands, resting them on his legs. Tears seeped from his eyes. He hadn't known that it was possible to cry in an unconscious state. Apparently, it was. He sat there, not knowing what to do. Blaine found his voice again and Kurt sat there with his knees in the blood, listening.

"Kurt, I'm sorry this happened to you. I love you. I can't live without you." There was a pause and more sounds met Kurt's ears. He realized than that Blaine was not the only one in the room. There were others. Many others. He picked up several now familiar voices. The members of the Glee Club. Suddenly, the tingling heavy feeling in his right hand arose in his left and he realized that someone else had picked up his other hand. A new voice joined the mix and Kurt felt as though he were going to break down even more. He had to go back to them.

"I know you don't believe in God Kurt," said the voice. It was Mercedes, one of his best friends. "But prayer has been something we've been dedicating to you all these months." Months? That gave Kurt a start and he stumbled to his feet in the dark world. He'd been comatose for a matter of months? He wanted to ask how many? But Mercedes answered the question anyway and fear gripped him. "It's been four months Kurt. The doctors said they should have cut your life support a month ago. They said after three months of being comatose, brain damage is usually a certainty if the patient wakes at all but it's more than likely they won't wake if they haven't by three months."

Terror clenched Kurt and he kicked awkwardly at the blood. He was going to die. Was he really going to die? Wait, why hadn't his parents heeded the doctors' suggestions and cut his life support? He was a month passed the safety mark. Or that was how it seemed. He remembered his father yelling about him waking up. Saying that he would wake up. The doctors didn't even have an if for Kurt. Most importantly, if he woke up, he could have brain damage. He would never be the same again. He could be a vegetable for the rest of his life. Suddenly, Kurt felt like he would be better off dying.

But then he thought of the words that Blaine had spoken before Mercedes had said what she had. Was his love indicating that if Kurt died, he would commit suicide to be with him? Kurt, alive or not would not have that on his conscience. He had to beat this.

He stood tall and glared down at the form of his body lying there motionless in the blood. "I'm going to fight," he said to it. "I'm not going to let this take me. I have too much to live for." The body seemed to be fading as though it were removing itself from the horror that was playing in his mind. "And I refuse to suffer brain damage," he further clarified. He stared down at the form of himself fading and realized that as it was going, the blood seemed to be seeping back into it, as though accident were reversing itself or had never even happened.

Kurt felt himself grow stronger still.

The body and blood disappeared and something odder began to happen around him. It seemed as though the darkness he found himself sitting in was enlightening. It was like the color of the world and everything was flooding back to him. Life was flooding back like a river to an ocean. The period of darkness was beginning to lift and Kurt was fighting his way back. He was bringing himself back to the people he loved. He had to stay positive.

He felt like he was glowing. His skin looked still as pale as ever but it looked flushed and healthy. He could flex his muscles and move much easier and smoother, much like his freedom before the accident. And he sat on the curb watching all of this happen. More memories flooded back still until, the accident itself had been intact in his brain and as soon as he read that image, horror flooded him and for a moment, he lost strength.

* * *

_"Kurt, you cannot have Blaine sleep over here anymore. It's unnerving!" Burt Hummel said in the heat of an argument, to his teenage son. It didn't seem to matter anymore how much Kurt loved Blaine or how hard they'd worked to make a good relationship despite Kurt's homosexuality._

" _Dad, I love him and it's not like we've done anything!" Kurt yelled back, hands balling into fists. He stormed across the living room, heading for the door. The worst part of this whole argument, Finn and Blaine were standing in that very room staring in surprise._

_Burt started after his son. "Where do you think you're going? And that doesn't mean anything! It's inappropriate!" Kurt spun on his heel, feet from the front door. He glared daggers of anger at his father, the blue-green of his eyes darkening with an eerie glow. Finn and Blaine exchanged worried glances and Kurt looked over at Finn, a pained look on his face. "Don't you look at him!"_

_Kurt stamped his foot and turned back to the door, placing one hand on it. "You started allowing Finn to have Rachel sleep over. Why can't I have Blaine? Even though I've asked you every single time like you wanted me to!" Those words left a linger in the air and when Blaine and Finn looked at Burt, they could tell he looked guilty. Kurt had a point. Him allowing Finn to have Rachel sleep over was no different than Kurt being allowed Blaine. And it was starting to look like his struggle to accept his gay son as he was and love him unconditionally was causing him to give Finn a fairer hand._

_Silence filled the air and that brief moment of silence was all it took for Kurt to throw open the door and fly out of the house. He stormed down the steps and out into the street without skipping a beat. It was Blaine who had run out of the house and down the walk as soon as they all heard the car horn. It was over before it had even happened._

_A car came out of nowhere and smashed head on with Kurt as he stormed out into the street. The teenager had been tossed high into the air and thrown backward over the car, sailing what had to be the equivalent of half a football field. The car had been speeding and had slammed him hard. He'd shot at least twenty feet into the air and slammed into the ground roughly fifty yards away from where he'd been hit. The car had driven off. Hit and run._

_Blaine had fainted. Finn had frozen stiff and Burt had run faster than he ever had to reach his son's unconscious form on the ground._

* * *

Kurt stared across him at the house in this darkness growing to light world that he knew was his own. He was sure that his father felt like this was all his fault. He didn't doubt that Finn and Blaine felt guilty too. And as he sat and replayed the memory in his head, he realized that he should have been dead. How had he managed to live? How had he managed only a mere coma after a tragic accident like that?

"Everyone has a time Kurt," said a voice and he looked up. His eyes grew wide at what he saw. His mother. She was standing in the middle of that street in a white gown. Kurt had no doubt that she was an angel. A guardian angel even maybe. She had to be looking out for him. She had to be. "This was not yours. That's why you didn't die. That's why you're still alive. But if you don't keep up the fight, you will die before your time. Don't give up my son. They need you."

Before Kurt could reply, his mother had vanished. He was still alive because he wasn't meant to die yet. Kurt had a feeling suddenly that the accident had not been written in his timeline. It was one of those uncharted events that disrupted the natural flow of human life. Why was he thinking in this logical sense? He knew that he couldn't give up and he wouldn't. Not even if that beautiful light returned and even now, Kurt knew what that light had been. The entrance to the pearly gates. He swallowed just thinking about it. He knew now what this was. It was a near death experience. This was going to change him for good.

Voices were rising above him again and he realized more time had passed. He didn't know how much. But he could tell now that it was nighttime in the real world. The brightened colors of his limbo were full now. Life had drawn back. There was only one person with him. How did he know this? He knew so much more now. The Kurt in limbo began to walk back toward the darkness he had started in. He knew to go home, he had to go back into it. This was his exit.

His eyes shut as he traveled back into that darkness and he could suddenly feel the pressure of the hospital room lighting on his eyelids. His hand could now physically feel the hand gripping his. His awareness told him it was Blaine again. A heavy weight was on his lap. His boyfriend's head. The sound of shallow breathing met his ears and he could tell that Blaine was asleep. A sigh broke his ears and he knew that someone was standing in the doorway, watching them. Though he couldn't see them, Kurt had no doubt that it was his father.

He focused all of the energy that flooded back into his body. Burt Hummel left the doorway again, just before the miraculous happened. Kurt moved his fingers just slightly. But it was enough. Blaine's head cropped up with a start and he looked down at Kurt's hand. "Kurt?" he asked. Kurt moved his fingers again, wiggling them to firmly grasp Blaine's hand and even managing a small squeeze. "Kurt!" Blaine yelled scrambling to his feet.

Burt came running into the room just as Kurt fluttered open his eyes. Burt Hummel's jaw dropped and he ran out to get the nurse. Blaine, whose eyes were red from crying elapsed into fresh tears as Kurt blinked up at him.

Kurt tried to speak but found that there was a tube shoved down his throat. So instead, though irritated, he held up his hand weakly, showing with sign language, three words,  _I love you_. Blaine sniffed and kissed his hand what must have been about a thousand times. "I love you too Kurt." It was official. Kurt Hummel was on his way back to life and he was going to make a miraculous recovery. He could just feel it.

* * *

A miraculous recovery it was. Kurt had told Blaine not to tell anyone in Glee because he wanted to surprise them all when he came back into the choir room on his first day back at school. Somehow Blaine had managed to both keep them from figuring it out and from coming to visit Kurt in the hospital while he rehabilitated and now, the big day had arrived. The day when Kurt had been given the okay to go back to school and things were different. He, his brother – one person who the recovery couldn't be kept from and had helped Blaine in the concealment – Blaine, and his parents all looked at life with a renewed light and they appreciated each other so much more.

"What do you think they're going to do?" Kurt asked Blaine as he stood in a hidden crook of the school. Blaine just grinned and kissed him, loving the feel of Kurt's lips on his own.

"They're going to freak. Trust me." Kurt smiled up at him and kissed him again. Blaine hugged him tightly and walked off. Kurt watched him put on his acting face and solemnly slide into the choir room, followed by Finn, who winked at him and mimicked Blaine's solemn attitude. Kurt stayed in that crook and watched, waiting until he knew that everyone, including Mr. Schue had entered the choir room.

Taking a deep breath, he noted the empty halls of McKinley. Kids had left already. Kurt had arranged only to show up for Glee Club on his first day back just for the sake of surprise. He had some of the others in his classes. It was now or never. His friends in New Directions were about to get the surprise of a lifetime. Even from the safety of the crook, he could see them all looking solemn. He felt bad. None of them had really been enthusiastic since Kurt's accident.

Shoving those thoughts aside, Kurt knew it was time. He could see Blaine seemingly watching for him. Another deep breath and he emerged from his crook. Everyone seemed to be focusing on Mr. Schue, which meant for a good sneak attack and Kurt stepped just into the doorway. "Pardon me for the interruption but I do believe this club is missing something," he said, cocking his head to one side and plastering a slight smile on his face.

The reaction was instantaneous. For a moment everyone stared at him in surprise and silence and the next thing Kurt knew, the girls were screaming, the guys were cheering, and everyone – including Mr. Schue – was enwrapping him in a massive hug. Kurt Hummel was back and life couldn't be any better.

**Author's Note:**

> Just one note of clarification. I'm not a medical expert, despite watching an awful lot of medical TV because I find it fascinating but I do remember learning that a person remaining comatose after three months, runs a high risk of brain damage should ever wake up beyond that point. It is at this time doctors recommend the parents start thinking about making funeral arrangements and pulling the plug but whether to do that is entirely up to the parents or loved ones of the patient. I hope you enjoyed this little fic of mine!


End file.
